“At the end of the day, we are trying to produce the most repeatable parts in the fastest, most repeatable time, and the second stage speed setting is an often-overlooked influence on the process. Knowing how your machines respond to this input is one more step toward being better than the next molder.”

 

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Andy Nicholls, Training Manager at RJG said, “This award is recognition of the way my team engages the trainees in the many training courses RJG offers to increase their skill levels.  When it is voted on by the industry, it is a reflection on the professionalism of our trainers and how they pass on their industry knowledge to increase the skills in our sector.  We are looking to build on this success in 2019 with an increased range of courses on offer.”

“Experts whose intimate knowledge and expertise in the corporate, cultural, financial and legal arenas are redefining our industry,” says Jake Robson, Group Editor of The ACQ5. “The 2018 ACQ5 Global Award winners represent the best of breed in all industry sectors and have earned these honours by standing out in a group of very impressive finalists. We are lucky enough to work with some of the most influential and enterprising private organisations in the world and are proud to share their message with our readers. Relying on reader insight and experience to provide nominations to the panel remains the cornerstone of our program and to identify industry leaders, individuals, teams and organisations that represent the benchmark of achievement and best practice in the business world.”

The ACQ5 Global Awards honour the leading teams, firms and professionals whose activities set the standard for their markets. This year, companies and individuals representing every major market in the world became finalists for the awards.

“Operating a legitimately independent nomination process, our award winners are chosen by our readership. Every year, we seek the assistance of our readers, the industry itself, in recognising industry leaders, eminent individuals, exemplary teams and distinguished businesses, which we believe represent the benchmark of achievement and best practice in a variety of fields – and every year, we turn to them to help as we strive to recognise an ever-widening spectrum of services, markets, industries and organisations that serve our global market place. We believe that by consulting our readers, we can better identify the groups that are confronting the issues which face us at this ongoing complex juncture, and our awards will rise above the status of participation certificate and actually be an endorsement of their work.” Robson continued.

ACQ Global Awards’ objective, as always, is: “To gather quantitative and qualitative information from and about the sector to be able to give a set of “Best of” awards. We founded the ACQ Global Awards program to empower end users to make smarter, more confident decisions.”

“One of the industry’s favourite awards events was right to anticipate another record-breaking number of votes! The total number of nominations received stood at an amazing 98,621 our highest ever.

“Our poll was not only designed to reflect actual performance in any particular area of expertise, it was also aimed to reflect direct market share based on a number of criteria. Voters were encouraged to base their decisions on addressing professionalism: experience, value for money & responsiveness in order for ACQ to derive a numerical rating from 1 – 5. In that sense, this poll should be considered a reflection of how professionals view any practice, individual or related sector supplier in terms of overall quality of service.”

Only nominees receiving an average 4-star rating or above achieved a short-list status.

All Award Winners for the ACQ5 Global Awards are hereby released in the annual ACQ5 Global Awards 2018 publication.

 

About ACQ5

For more information, please visit www.ACQ5.com or contact ACQ5 at +44 (0)871 218 2470.

 

Over the last three segments, we have reviewed several of the often overlooked technical arenas that are vital to understand in order to become a plastics guru. In segment one, we reviewed mechanical and electrical knowledge, in segment two, we reviewed fluid dynamics and thermodynamics, and in this last segment we will review metallurgy and statistics.

 

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There are those who are good at what they do, and then there are those who are the absolute best. The gurus. Learn how you can become the best of the best.

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In May of 2016, the Medical OEM Consortium (MOEMC) formed. A group of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) set out to discover a more efficient part validation process for injection molding. They executed and formally documented their results. By creating a “Part Process”, molders are able to replicate transferable plastic conditions that eliminate the need to 100% re-validate the tool every time it is moved to a new machine. This new technique has the potential to save molders millions of dollars and thousands of hours of inefficient downtime annually. Today, the findings from the proof of concept are officially released in the format of a technical white paper, available for download on RJG’s website. The white paper, entitled “Part Process” Transferability Using a Machine Independent Variable (MIV) Methodology for Multiple Machines, walks through the methods, materials, results and conclusions of the Consortium’s research. Through the execution of this discovery exercise, the MOEMC has provided a broadened perspective on the acceptance of the “part process” method to allow the transfer of molds in the medical device industry as a practical alternate standard. Traditionally, a part must be re-validated every time the mold is going to run in a different machine, especially in high precision applications that are found in medical devices. This costs millions of dollars a year and leads to weeks or months of machine downtime, leading to lost revenue for both the OEM and molder. By creating a process that can be successfully transferred from machine to machine based on a reduced verification run, molders can save millions and greatly reduce or eliminate machine downtime. Also, there is an increased assurance that the methods used can help reduce and mitigate risk based on data-driven decisions (using available technology) that can help drive continuous improvements and sustain the required statistical control. “This is the future of Medical Molding,” said Scott Scully, Director, Corporate Molding/Tooling at Terumo Cardiovascular Systems. “For too long, the cost of full validation to move a mold has kept the industry handcuffed and has thwarted OEMs to move quickly on unexpected schedule demands. To remain competitive, we must change to validating the ‘Part Process’ instead of the ‘Machine Process’. Those who do will out-compete those who don’t.” “What was amazing to watch was that the SQE/Quality Team really engaged to learn about the molding process and understand its effect on the dimensional results,” said Matt Therrien, Business Development Manager at RJG. “At the end of the Consortium, they were the most passionate about explaining the benefits of the newfound data-driven approach.” ”Over the past 15-20 years, the injection molding industry has experienced amazing progress in process technology,” said Paul Robinson, Lead QA/RA Compliance Consultant at Quality System Consulting Services (QSCS). “The ability to model, monitor and control injection molding has improved exponentially. As a result, I recommend looking for opportunities to drive efficiency by taking a hard look at some of the examples of reasons for revalidation in section 6.4 from GHTF/SG3/N99-10:2004 (Edition 2) Quality Management Systems – Process Validation Guidance:

“The need for revalidation should be evaluated and documented.  This evaluation should include historical results from quality indicators, product changes, process changes, changes in external requirements (regulations or standards) and other such circumstances.  

“Revalidation may not be as extensive as the initial validation if the situation does not require that all aspects of the original validation be repeated.  If a new piece of equipment is purchased for a validated process, obviously the IQ portion of the validation needs to be repeated.  However, most of the OQ aspects are already established.  Some elements of PQ may need to be repeated, depending on the impact of the new equipment.”

Abstract: In the medical device molding industry, manufacturing plastic parts in multiple machines requires expensive and time-consuming validations for each injection molding machine (IMM). Here we employ a Machine Independent Variable (MIV) method to effectively and efficiently transfer a validated “part process” across four distinctly different IMMs. Critical to Quality (CTQ) results for each transfer were required to meet Ppk targets to match the CTQs of the initial validation. Our results show the MIV transfer method, verified with eDART^® technology, can be used to replicate plastic parts in different IMMs with negligible part variation (dimensional results), using selected capable machines. The data-driven results provided by this lean systematic method are more robust, faster to obtain and more cost effective than the traditional single machine approach. Download the White Paper

Here are the typical 7 steps our TZERO^® team walks through during part and mold design to ensure good parts are made from the very first shot, without any rework. 

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In September of this year, RJG launched their first ever eLearning course, Math for Molders. Math for Molders provides foundational math skills practice needed both in the field and for more advanced RJG courses. This online eLearning course allows students to complete each module at their own pace, including the option to replay sections as needed, and takes an average of nine to ten hours to complete. There are eight units in the course with multiple interactive modules in each that include videos, animations and practice activities. Utilizing real scenarios, molders will be more prepared to calculate data, enabling them to match mold requirements with appropriate machines and avoid common defects while preventing mold and machine damage. Some course highlights include:

• • Area: calculate area of various shapes and calculate total projected area at parting line

 

• • Ratios: calculate ratios used in screw design and intensification ratios for hydraulic machines

 

• • Volume: calculate volumetric shot size and barrel capacity using a volume formula triangle

  “We’re excited to be able to provide a new delivery method for math instruction where molders work their way through the course on their own time frames,” said Margaret Weinzapfel, co-creator of Math for Molders – eLearning. “Instead of being pulled away for a full day at a time for classroom instruction, participants can advance their math skills a bit at a time over the course of a few days or a few weeks as their schedules allow.” RJG will no longer be offering face-to-face Math for Molders classes in English. Until other languages are available in the eLearning course, consultants are able to provide in-plant training in Spanish, Mandarin, German and French. RJG hopes to complete Spanish, British English (metric) and Mandarin versions sometime in the next year. https://rjginc.com/product/math-for-molders-elearning/

RJG gibt den CoPilot^™ am 17. Juli 2017 frei. Der Co-Pilot ist eine Alarm- und Assistenz-Software für Spritzgussanwendungen. Ziel bei der Entwicklung des Co-Pilot war es, eine einfache, praktische Software ohne unnötige Funktionen zur Verfügung zu stellen, die es auch unerfahrenen Produktionsmitarbeitern ermöglicht, selbstständig Prozessabweichungen zu korrigieren. Der CoPilot überwacht aktuelle Prozessparameter und bietet Anleitungen um den Prozess wieder auf die eingestellten Parameter zurückzuführen. Meldungen in Echtzeit informieren den Spritzgießer, sobald der Prozess aus vordefinierten Grenzen läuft und ermöglicht es ihm dadurch, ein Problem rechtzeitig zu erkennen bevor unnötiger Ausschuss produziert wird. Mit dem CoPilot werden Prozesstechniker in einer auf den Prinzipien des Scientific Molding basierenden Vorgehensweise Schritt für Schritt durch die Priorisierung der wesentlichen abweichenden Prozessvariablen geführt. Der CoPilot zeichnet ebenfalls Änderungsprotokolle auf, die dokumentieren, welche Prozessgrößen sich wann verändert haben, und welche Person das Problem behoben hat. Dadurch erhält das Management einen Überblick, was in er Produktion geschieht, und verfügt über den Nachweis, dass ein Prozess innerhalb der Grenzwerte läuft. Wenn sich ein Prozess außerhalb der Grenzwerte bewegt, werden nicht konforme Teile aussortiert, wodurch eine manuelle Kontrolle entfällt. Darüber hinaus ist es mit dem CoPilot möglich, automatische Prozess-Audits durchzuführen. Bei vielen Spritzgießern läuft irgendeine Art von manueller Prozessprüfung ab. Dies bedeutet gewöhnlich, dass ein oder mehrere Mitarbeiter einen manuellen Vergleich durchführen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Ist-Werte an jeder Maschine mit den Angaben auf dem Einrichtungsblatt übereinstimmen. Mit dem CoPilot ist es möglich, diese Prüfung rund um die Uhr in Echtzeit durchzuführen und zu dokumentieren. Dadurch kann der Zeitaufwand für manuelle Prüfungen drastisch verringert oder ganz vermieden werden. Funktionen des CoPilot im Einzelnen:

• • Echtzeit-Meldungen, wann sich ein Prozess geändert hat

 

• • Automatische Prozess-Audits

 

• • Schrittweise Anleitungen, um einen abweichenden Prozess zu korrigieren.

  „Durch die Entwicklung des CoPilot-Systems hoffen wir, die ständig wachsende Kompetenzlücke zu überbrücken, den Ausschuss zu verringern und die gesamte Teilequalität zu verbessern,“ sagte Bob Reese, ein leitender Berater bei RJG. „Wir haben unser Wissen mit dem anderer Spritzgussspezialisten kombiniert, um eine hochintelligente Software zu entwickeln, die berücksichtigt, wie Prozessparameter zusammenwirken.” Der CoPilot befindet sich derzeit in der Betatest-Phase und wird am 17. Juli weltweit auf den Markt gebracht.